Ghost in the Machine
by Big Twinkie
Summary: *Updated 4/7/02* A deadly new foe threatens to destroy Big Guy and Rusty. And that's just for starters!
1. Number Two Hits the Fan

****

Ghost in the Machine

Written by Mere (mbmincey@hotmail.com) 

Disclaimer: Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot are the property of Dark Horse Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, Tri-Star Paramount (Sony), and their creator's Frank Miller and Geof Darrow. I claim no rights and make no profit.

Author's Note: This takes place a month after the second season. 

After being relieved of duty, Harry made his way back down from the main deck, looking forward to a good hot meal. He was an old salt really, four years on a destroyer under his belt before transferring here, but being stationed on a carrier was still enough to get his eyes to bulge. And not just any carrier mind you, but the USS Dark Horse. Yeah, that one. It was a small carrier, if you could _ever_ call a carrier small, and its main function was to house the BGY-11 and Legends one through three, along with a few other goodies should even the robots need a little help. Legend-One was such a big mother that it took up more than bleedin' half of Hanger Bay Two! And seeing it launched? Seeing it launched from the catapult was still awe-inspiring, not that he'd ever let on to the chillins. Heck no. He passed by Bay Two, affectionately called the Big Guy Cave, and nodded hello as he always did to their most famous, reclusive crewmember. He hadn't exactly chatted with the robot, it only being powered up when coming and going between the Dark Horse to where ever, but it seemed almost… human. Something that either delighted people or disturbed them. Robots had the unique combination of inspiring wonder and trepidation, especially military prototypes and especially these days what with evil robots running around. But kids loved him. If they had the chance to get close to him, they'd run right up to Big Guy without the slightest apprehension, completely trusting of the huge, walking, talking arsenal. Maybe because he had been around so long. Or the way he had been designed. Or maybe because he was on posters, lunch boxes, and had his own toy line. He was a real life super-hero to them complete with a cute-as-a-button sidekick, not a weapon of mass destruction they should be afraid of. Of course if Quark kept it up, Big Guy and Rusty would be the only robots people would trust. There were those Home Version Rusty's of course, and then the Nanny Alice line that had quickly fizzled after what happened to that little girl… Harry liked robots, he really did, but why anyone would trust a machine to raise their kids was beyond him. 

"No offense."

Harry was so lost in thought that he was completely surprised when he walked smack into something and bounced right off it to the floor. He let out an "oomph!", landing square on his backside, and stared up at his suddenly visible roadblock. It stood erect with long, spindly legs and arms. It's shiny superstructure reflecting his own image back at him. It titled its head at him, as if just as curious in Harry, clutching what looked like a space age lunch box to its chest. 

"I've never seen a human so close up before…" 

Harry blinked, his throat having dried up as he tried to speak. "What… are you?" 

It's body stiffened then and it pointed its right hand at him. "I'm sorry, but you can't tell anyone I was here." And with that, a fine laser beam shot forth from its palm and shot through Harry's head point blank. He collapsed with thud to the floor. His killer unaware of the smell of something burning as it crouched down by his still form to examine him. And when its auditory sensors detected someone coming it dragged Harry to the side, holding him close to its body as it cloaked them once again before the passers-by could see them. 

***

Dwayne sat at the Comm station, still decked in his flight suit, frowning slightly as Slate reported on the probe that Rusty had found buzzing around outside the Dark Horse last night. It was relatively small, spherical, and single-eyed. Stealthy enough not to have caught attention unless you had boy robots flying about the ship and controlled by a remote link somewhere. It was enough to get all the little hairs on his neck to stand on end. 

"I can't tell you anything you don't already know. It has parts manufactured by both Quark and Itsubishi, but all the serial numbers have been scratched out. They could have bought the material from anywhere." 

"What about its CPU?" 

"That's going to take time. It has some very complicated firewalls."

Dwayne's frown deepened and he sunk further into his chair. "You sure you don't want me to come down there? I'm no genius but I'm good for a few other things." Slate grinned at him. 

"So I've noticed. No need though. Just give me some more time." 

He sighed, for a moment allowing his exhaustion to show. That was five days in a row he was sent on a call, each one was just as long and grueling, and now this. Just great. "Thanks, Doc. We appreciate it." 

"Take care, Lieutenant. Be careful." 

He smiled ruefully. "Careful? What's that?" 

Slate rolled her eyes. "I don't know which of you is worse." 

She ended the transmission and Dwayne being too lazy to get up, rolled his chair over to the Comm station and closed the line. Wisecracks and towel snapping aside this was very serious business. For the time being though it was watch and wait and he positively hated that. Better to act than react. 

"Aw, don't worry, Lieutenant." Mack said, coming up behind and smirking down at him. "I still think you're cute." 

"Thanks so much. Don't you have a plasma distributor to recalibrate?" 

Mack clicked his heels and saluted. "All done fer the day, sir. Recommend a Miller Time, sir." 

"Fine." 

Mack became serious for a moment, leaning against one of the consoles as he studied the diagram on screen. "Any guesses who sent the droid? Look's a lot like Legion hardware." 

"The Legion was destroyed." 

"Still one out there, Chief." 

Like it could possibly slip his mind. Number Seven was still unaccounted for, but One had been certain he was the last of them so it was possible Seven wasn't even operational. Yeah, assuming his luck changed. "Maybe, but it could be anybody who can put a robot together." He stretched, joints popping audibly and bruised muscle starting to ache. The adrenaline had finally worn off. _All I need is a shower, three weeks of sleep, and a blood transfusion. Then I'll be right as rain again._ "They just keep right on comin' don't they?" Mack quirked an eyebrow at him. 

"_They?_" 

"The bad guys." Whoever it was he wasn't going to be happy until that little mystery was solved. Well, if you could call that happiness… 

"Well I say bring it on!" Jo crowed, walking up to the station. "We can handle anything they can dish out!" 

"Whaddya mean 'we'? I didn't see your tuckus get charbroiled today."

"With all do respect, _sir_?" The sir was dripping with sarcasm and she blew a big raspberry at him. That's what he got for spoiling her too much. "You'd be nothin' without us, Spit curl lad, so don't start getting too big for your britches." He grinned. 

"You're right, Jo. Where would I be with out my loyal crew?" 

"Dead…" Mack said. 

"Burnt to a crisp," Jo added. 

"Crushed…" 

"Blown to bits…" 

"And that's just today!"

Dwayne buried his face in his hand. "For Christ sakes guys, I didn't need a list." He sighed, looking up at them again. "But seriously, I think at this point it's too soon to conveniently file it under Legion Ex Machina." Mack thumbed at the diagram. 

"Think they'll beef up security?" 

"Anymore than they already have?" Jo asked. "Place is tighter than Fort Knocks thanks to RoboDwayne." Lord, she just had to go and mention that. "Quit being abducted, Lieutenant." 

"Funny." 

Dwayne heaved himself up with a grunt, reluctant to get out of his chair. It was inevitable though. He had to give Big Guy a shakedown flight and make sure everything was in working order. 

"How's about we do a few laps around the ship then close shop for the day?" 

"Sounds good to me." Mack said.

Dwayne retrieved his helmet off the console, making his way back to Big Guy's maintenance chair when Jo caught up with him as they walked. "You sure you don't want me to do that?" 

"Why?" He was genuinely surprised by the question. Sure she complained about not getting any seat time since she was the third in Command, but she suddenly seemed concerned. 

"You know you don't have to pull that macho stuff with _me_, Dwayne." 

"I don't follow you."

She grinned at him, lowering her voice like it was some big conspiracy. "I know you like to impress Dr. Slate and all but you just got blown up, beat down, and shot at a mere five hours ago." 

"So? Someone's trying to whack me all the time. And I'm not trying to 'impress' anybody."

"Suuuurrreee. Whatever ya say, stud." 

He reached the steps of the maintenance chair, pushing his head through the thick padding of his helmet, and clasping the chinstrap so that it stayed snuggly in place. Why was everyone picking on him today? Jo, Mack, bloodthirsty aliens… He gave Jo his most charming, frisky smile. "Always trying to pair me off. Don't you know you're the only girl for me? Look at you," He looked her up and down, knowing somewhere under all that grunge and oil was Jo. "All greasy in your cute little overalls. I mean woof!"

"You're such a weirdo." 

"Oh c'mon, spin for Daddy." 

She snorted and pointed authoritatively at Big Guy. "Back in the can, hambone." Dwayne chuckled to himself as he went up the steps to Big Guy's hatch. 

"Whatever the lady says. No need to twist my arm about it…" 

He entered the pass code, Big Guy's cockpit opening, and Dwayne looked back towards Mack at the Command Station with a headset on, ready to receive communications. Mack gave him the thumbs up to let him know everything was set and he climbed in, sliding into the pilot's seat. It still smelled of burnt wire from when the systems overloaded. Yes, very, very lucky today. He strapped himself in and pushed the seat forward, the hatch doors closing shut behind him. 

Maybe he shouldn't have brushed the Doc off like he had. She had seemed kind of pissed when she signed off. He sometimes forgot she didn't share their gallows humor. After all, joking about it was better than thinking about it. Dwayne pushed it aside, remembering that he had a job to do. _Quit thinking about her too much. _

Oops.

__

It! Quit thinking about IT too much. Oh hell, you know what you mean ya idiot. You're talking to yourself! Damn, blankity blank Pit Crew, puttin' ideas in your head. Now pay attention. 

Power core back on-line, navigational systems. After all these years he could go through his checklist without even thinking about it as Big Guy came to life again. Propulsion… Of course it was better to pay attention to such things, but being in such a big hurry didn't allow much for that. He opened his comm link to Mack. "All systems back online. How am I doing?"

"Everything's good from where I'm sittin'. Green lights across the board. Power core levels at eighty-two and climbing." 

"Roger." Dwayne pulled the cyclic control stick forward**, **the sound of Big Guy's massive hind and knee servos making the exo-suit stand all ten feet high. The familiar vibration felt beneath his feet even through the thick leather soles of his boots. That was pure, raw, power right there. Too bad the same feeling didn't translate outside of the suit. "Command grid's at…" Now that couldn't be right. "Huh. I need a confirma--" 

He stopped when a silvery substance dripped down onto his forearm and he instinctively pulled his arm back. "What the…?" It rolled down the side of his arm, leaving a florescent glow where it had touched him and he looked up at the top of the cockpit. The same stuff was starting to seep through the panels and fall to the floor. And it was oozing out of the floor panels to double his pleasure. "Oh hell." First came a swell of panic, then the realization he didn't have time for that. 

Dwayne quickly undid his restraints as this metal ooze began to fill the cockpit, from both above and below. "I think I'm in trouble here!" Mack didn't respond. Or couldn't. 

He reached for the ejection handle, but a tendril shot up instantly and grabbed his wrist. Dwayne let out a yelp both in surprise and because the thing was squeezing his wrist hard enough to make something pop. It looked like mercury, metallic, shiny, and fluid. It gripped his arms and legs and the more he fought it the tighter it held onto him. Wrapping around his waist and rib cage, squeezing him until he could hardly breath. _Now_ was the time to panic. 

"Dwayne?" Jo! He could hear her on Big Guy's comm system. "You alright in there?" 

"No!" Dwayne gasped. He was jerked back into the pilot's seat, the liquid metal binding him to it. 

"Shut up."

That was Big Guy. That was Big Guy speaking and he wasn't doing it. 

"Relax and be replaced."

***

"Oh no you don't!" Rusty said, clenching his teeth in bite that could bend steel. He was ninety percent damaged and running on auxiliary power, but his arch nemesis had taken some heavy blows himself. Time to go for broke. The entire Universe was at stake! Left, right, left again. Firing all he had as his enemy backed him up against a corner, unmerciful, and then horror upon horrors dealt the final deathblow, his victim's small body flying through the air and bouncing off the dungeon wall. He laughed his sinister, taunting laugh like he always did. That evil, ranssum, franssum Frog Commander had once again killed Rusty. "DANG IT!" Rusty threw down his controller and placed his head in his hands, completely frustrated. "I'm still bullet proof, I'm still bullet proof, I'm still bullet proof…" He would never be able to beat the Frog Commander. Not ever. Not without a cheat code, but what was the point of winning if you cheated? 

"Sheesh, don't be such a spaz. It's only a stupid video game."

Rusty turned around to see Pierre come up the stairs into his room. That he was up here just grated on Rusty's nerves to no end. He was so tired of Pierre walking around, strutting his chubby stuff all over Quark like he owned the place. 

"What do you want, Derriere?" 

"Wow. Did you come up with that one all by yourself or did Big Doofus help you? He's so witty after all." 

Just once. Just once he'd like to make Pierre eat that smirk of his. "Buddy, you are so lucky there's a Robot rule number one." Pierre dismissed him with a wave of his hand. 

"Whatever. You too busy warping your emotion grid or do you want to go do something?" Pierre wanted to do something? Do something with him? 

"Why?", Rusty asked warily. Pierre shrugged. 

"I'm bored. Uncle Axle said he'd spend the day with me, but he's in a meeting right now. Some big who-ha with some investors." 

__

Oh.

Big Guy had said that Pierre probably didn't have it so easy because his Mom was always ditching him with Dr. Donovan, but even Dr. Donovan didn't really have time for his nephew, running a big corporation and all. 

"_Poor kid doesn't really have anyone to look after him like you do. He'd get in a lot less trouble if he did that's for sure." _

"You mean I have to pretend I like him?!" 

"I'm just saying you should be more understanding." 

Easy for him to say! Big Guy didn't have to put up with jerks like Pierre. Still… Rusty sighed, his struggle over doing what he wanted (telling Pierre to buzz off) and doing something he really, really didn't want to do (letting Pierre stay). His conscience won. "I guess if you want to." Rusty then brightened. Might as well make lemonade. "You wanna play dominos?" Pierre folded his arms against his chest. 

"Pft. No." 

"Um, watch TV?" 

"Nothing's on." 

"Hide and go seek?" 

"What are we, four?" 

"Hock loogies on Dr. Don-- Um, on Dr. Pollack's car?" 

"No and oh yeah… no." 

Rusty shook his head at the older boy. "Cheese Louise, Pierre. Why do you even get up in the morning?" 

"All your suggestions are childish." 

"Well you're the one who wanted to do something! You pick then!" Pierre brought a finger to his chin, appearing to be in thought. Hopefully it wasn't about stealing or causing minor whadayacallems… "apocalypses". 

"You know, I heard Dr. Slate was working with repulsor fields… Think she'd mind letting us have a peek? With adult supervision of course." He smiled a winning smile at Rusty, but Rusty wasn't fooled. All Pierre really wanted was to see Dr. Slate's invention and he needed his help to do it. It had nothing to do with wanting to do something with him.

"She's working right now." Rusty said, frowning disdainfully at him. "And even if she wasn't she wouldn't let you within sneezing distance of anything. She's still mad at you for draining her brain." 

"God, I said I was sorry. No wonder everyone says she's frigid." 

Frigid!?! Wha… What did frigid mean…? Well whatever it meant it was bad. Rusty hopped down from his bench and walked right up to Pierre, looking him straight in the eye with hands on his hips.

"Who's everyone?" 

Pierre smirked. "Everybody. 'Cause she is. She's a total Ice Queen." Rusty's jaw dropped, completely shocked. 

"She is not!" 

"Is too. You'd get a ice cream headache if you kissed her too fast." 

Rusty glared at the other boy, his temper flaring up. "You take that back!" Pierre lightly pushed Rusty, daring him to push back. Boy, was this guy stupid. _Genius my butt! _

"Make me," Pierre said simply, pushing just a bit harder, thoroughly enjoying working Rusty into a frenzy. 

"I will make you!" 

"I don't see you making me." 

Pierre pushed him again, Rusty clenching his hands into tight little fists. "You don't have it in ya, ya wuss. My Uncle Axle would throw you in the grinder if you even touched a beautiful hair on my darling head. He _owns _you and you know it."

__

Counting to ten... One, two, three… 

"I'm not afraid of Dr. Donovan. I'm not afraid of anybody! Especially you!" 

__

Four, five, six, seven… 

"Only reason I'm not laying the smacketh down is 'cause you're a human." 

__

Eight, nine, ten. Hmm… Lieutenant Dwayne's right. That doesn't work. 

Thankfully (for Pierre that is) the signal went off and Rusty gasped, Pierre temporarily forgotten, and he stood tall with heroic purpose ready for a real battle. Making Pierre pay would have to wait. There were bigger fish to fry! Pierre had to go and ruin the moment of course… 

"The Big Guy Signal!" Pierre mocked.

__

Big fat, fatty fat of a meanie! "I wasn't going to say that," Rusty said coolly. 

"Were too." 

"Were not." 

"Were too." 

Then Dr. Slate called from downstairs. "Rusty!" Why anyone wouldn't like Dr. Slate Rusty couldn't guess. She was the nicest person ever. He lifted his nose at Pierre, trying to be just as snooty as he was. 

__

I'll take care of you later. "Excuse me, but I have to go save the world now." Rusty started his boot jets, lifting off the floor and about to fly downstairs. Before he left though, he looked over his shoulder at Pierre. "And uh… Don't touch any of my stuff." _Heh. _

He let Pierre chew on that, leaving the boy to fume as he flew down to Dr. Slate's lab. Rusty found her at her computer, talking into a headset. She seemed tense which made Rusty tense. Something really bad must be happening. "Slate to Pit Crew: Please respond." He swooped down behind her, hovering over Dr. Slate's shoulder as they looked at the scrambled static on her monitor. "This is Dr. Slate, over. Does anyone read me?" 

"What's the poop?" Rusty asked. Dr. Slate twisted around to see him, brows shooting up. 

"The poop?" 

"The skinny, the lowdown, the word. Y'know, the poop." 

"Don't say poop, Rusty." Dr. Slate admonished. "And to answer your question… I don't know yet. I received a signal, but I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone." She turned back to her computer, trying to improve the signal but not making much progress. "Pit Crew come in. Legion-One… Oh forget it."

Finally fed up, Dr. Slate started typing, her fingers flying over the keys super fast. Rusty figured she'd make a pretty good robot seeing as how she could do that. "Go see if anything is on the news." 

"But shouldn't I report to the Dark Horse or something?" 

"No, not until I contact Big Guy or the Pit Crew. I'm not sending you out there without knowing what's going on." 

Rusty sighed. _Shoot. _"Oh, all right…" He flew back towards his room, shoulders drooping. He would be better help if he went to the Dark Horse. _But nooooo, I have to stay here like a coward. If it were Big Guy, he'd just go in guns a'blazing. _

Rusty found Pierre still in his room (and touching his stuff!), drawing on his Big Guy poster with a black magic marker. Big Guy had a big mustache and pointy beard, with a word balloon making him say 'Guess what comes out of my butt.' Rusty stared in dismay, bringing his hands to his cheeks. "What are you doing?!?" Pierre spun around, startled to have someone suddenly behind him, and then grinned. 

"I was just coloring…" 

"You… You ruined it!!!" Rusty snatched the marker away from Pierre, completely at a loss as to why he would do such a thing. Big Guy was the greatest and all he ever did to Pierre was save his life!

"Boo-hoo. Somebody call the whaaaa-bulance. I've defiled the Big Guy shrine." 

"I don't care what Big Guy said about you! You're… You're just evil, Pierre!"

Then the floor suddenly shook, a terrible crash coming from downstairs, and they both struggled to keep balance as a large crack climbed up the opposite wall. They glanced at each other, the realization of what was happening sinking in like an anchor as the floor of Rusty's entire room started to crumble and give way. "Not good," Rusty said before the floor was no longer under their feet, but crashing down. Pierre screamed as they fell and Rusty rushed towards him, grabbing him awkwardly by the ankle just before he went splat on the, rubble covered floor Dr. Slate's lab. 

"Omigod, omigod, omigod!" Pierre cried as Rusty placed him down gently as possible. He ran out of the lab, tripping and stumbling over the debris on the way. He was safe. Which left Rusty to find the person he was most concerned about. 

"DOCTOR SLATE!" He searched her lab. Most of it littered with broken pieces of concrete and all his possessions. Broken toys didn't matter right now though. Dr. Slate did and when he didn't see her anywhere he let out a loud sigh of relief. She must have got up and went while he was upstairs. The first thing he had ever been afraid of in his brief existence was something happening to his creator. 

The sound of thrusters burning behind him made Rusty whip around to see Big Guy right outside the massive hole in the wall that somebody had decided to put there and a huge smile came to his face. "Big Guy!" Rusty exclaimed, relieved to see his partner was here. Big Guy would take care of everything. "Big Guy, there was some sort of explosion and--" Big Guy released the proton cannon in his left wrist and aimed it right at Rusty. "…Um, Big Guy?" 

"The one and _only_" he said coldly. "Now who's hankerin' for a spankerin'?" The familiar sound of the canon warming up allowed Rusty a split second to dive out of the way of the blast as it went through the other wall. Rusty ducked and rolled, trying to comprehend why this was happening.

"What are you doing?!?" Rusty demanded. He wasn't sure if this was Big Guy or not. Big Guy had malfunctioned before, but then he'd also had evil twins before too. Neither sounded very good and whoever he was he was going to hit the nucleo-proton pump if he wasn't careful. They'd all be dead meat and scrap metal then. _Better get 'im away from here. Away from all the people… _Rusty heavily charged his hands and made a shot at Big Guy's eyes as came after him. Big Guy would have a hard time fighting if he couldn't see Rusty reasoned, and it wouldn't damage him too much. Direct hit! Big Guy stumbled backwards and fell right out of the hole in the wall! "I nailed him! Uh, I mean sorry…" Rusty flew towards the hole, looking down as it began to rain outside, water lightly tapping on his head. He didn't see Big Guy anywhere. "Big Guy…?" Rusty called out worriedly. What if it really was Big Guy and he'd hurt 'im? 

"GLORY STOMP!" 

Rusty gasped and zipped out of the way of Big Guy's foot as it grinded into the lab floor, tile cracking like eggshells. Rusty quickly flew up into the sky, maneuvering behind Big Guy and prepared to fire on his utility hatch. If he could breech Big Guy's hull he'd have a chance. Big Guy was softer on the inside like he was. No dice. Big Guy spun around fast, his face damaged but rapidly being repaired. 

"Whoa. No _way_." Rusty said in disbelief. "Your face is growing back…" His brief pause proved to be a huge mistake. Big Guy hit Rusty with a massive fist, pounding him into the side of the Tower and leaving a dumbstruck Rusty smashed into a big, crumbling impact crater. 

"Yeah, now if I could only do something about that burning, itching sensation…" Big Guy said, watching as Rusty plummeted twenty-nine stories down then leaving another crater in the Earth. 

***

Consciousness came slowly. 

__

(Name?! Rank?!)

(I think you killed him this time, Griff.)

Last time he took a friendly bet, by God. When was he going to learn? Stubborn as a mule but not half as smart his Dad would say. 

__

(Dwayne? You all right in there?) 

No… That wasn't it. There were noises, whooping, louder and louder. Making his head ache to its rhythm. It was Big Guy's master alarms. Maybe all of them. Bringing him back to Earth and letting him know that something was wrong. 

Dwayne cracked his eyes open to see through the cracked visor of his helmet. Everything was red, flashing alarms painting the cockpit the color of blood off and on, off and on. Glittering silver veins interwoven and pulsing in the entire cockpit. It looked like he had been swallowed whole. And even more distressing was that he couldn't move. Something heavy was pressing against him, an enormous weight on his chest the worst. What had happened again? 

Dwayne took in a sharp intake of breath and stared down at himself, seeing the same metal as before pinning him down. His chest, thighs, legs-- held down by a metallic, squirming ooze. _Oh yeah…_ _Man, I really need to start keeping a diary of these things. _

This reminded him of those insects nailed down through the center in Biology class. Only instead of that, thank God, he was smothered by it. A small grace at least, but he could only force so much oxygen into his lungs. His arm too. Sharp, shooting pains traveled up and down his left arm. His wrist…. Broke it when…

__

(I think I'm in trouble here!) 

It broke his wrist when he reached for the ejection handle. Dwayne searched for it and then finally realized he was at an odd angle. Further down and to the right. _When the hell did that happen? _When he found the ejection handle he tried to reach it with his bad hand because it was simply closer to it, which really hurt like a mother. The transmorphic metal that held his arm down was too hard to fight against. That and, yeah, it just really hurt. _Shock is over, baby._ It was too far. Even with the metal thinner now, it was still strong enough to keep him in here. He tried again anyway, letting out a grunt as he strained. His throat also sore because… 

Because it had nearly choked him to death. When Big Guy grabbed Jo he had been able to open his emergency kit, spilling what he was looking for to the floor… It had wrapped around his neck and choked him until everything had gone black. 

"They sure don't make them like they used too, ey' little buddy?" 

Big Guy's voice boomed in his ears. The radio in his helmet suddenly turned back on. The sudden noise made Dwayne jump. 

"I mean really, where did the craftsmanship go? Astro Boy rip-off." 

The main monitor came back online. Allowing Dwayne to finally see what was going on outside. He appeared to be several feet in the air as Big Guy looked down at a neatly manicured lawn. The back and forth stripes of freshly cut grass interrupted by a big hole in the dirt and a smaller red dot in the middle. Big Guy flew down to it, the image growing bigger and bigger until Dwayne could distinguish the red dot as Rusty. Something cold passed through his gut when saw the poor kid face down and perfectly still. Panic settled in again as Dwayne searched for the damn flare gun. The goddamn flare gun, where the f*#% was the goddamn flare gun?!? 

"Since you're bright eyed and bushy tailed, I thought you should see this." Big Guy said in a jolly tone. "Don't get scared now." 

Big Guy touched down into the grimy mud hole the kid had made and knelt down beside him, flipping Rusty over to see his face slightly caved in and nose crushed. A permanently frozen expression, teeth bare in a grimace and eyes shut tight. 

__

(No pain receptors!) 

Rusty's facial "muscles" hadn't relaxed like they were supposed to. 

"How's the proverb go?" Big Guy asked. "Don't dig your enemy's grave, you might fall into it? Or something like that. Where's that from, Dwayne? I can't remember." 

__

Where IS it?! 

"Well?!" Big Guy bellowed, crushing him in its grip again, the flare gun temporarily forgotten as it took particular relish on his wrist. The corners of his vision turned white. 

"Russian!" Dwayne gasped, his lungs fighting for air. "It's… Russian!"

It relaxed its hold on him and the whiteness faded as Big Guy took a more casual tone, as if it thought of them as two friends just shooting the breeze. 

"That's right. Chernobyl said that didn't he? When he attacked the White House?"

"Y-yes…"

"Man, good times, good times. I miss the Cold War. Just you and me saving America." 

Big Guy stared down at Rusty. "Just us." It then carefully put it's other fist around Rusty's head, pulling it off as green nucleo-protons spit out from detached wires. 

"Rusty!" 

"But this time it's different." Big Guy said in smug satisfaction. "I'm wearing the Daddy pants now." He held the severed head up to his face, Rusty's damaged face larger than life on the monitor. "See?"

__

(No pain receptors!) 

"I… see it." _You son of a bitch! _

"Good. I'm glad we worked this out."

Florescent metal bled from Big Guy's hand, seeping into Rusty's cranium seamlessly as he reattached it to Rusty's neck, melding it back on with the advanced nanotechnology. Rusty's face also seemed to magically heal itself and Big Guy dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. 

"Welcome to the club, kid." 

Part of Dwayne was immensely relieved as Big Guy left Rusty behind in his mud hole to the point that he had a case of the shakes afterwards, but the other part reasoned that what had happened wasn't all that good either. The same thing that had taken over the BGY-11 was now in Rusty also.

What Big Guy was about to do now didn't seem all that rosy either. Big Guy shot up into the sky, infrared scanners coming online to make the walls of Quark disappear. Seeing all the frantic people inside as they prepared for a monster attack like little ants as their hill was being decimated. The bad guys had hijacked an exo-suit and the Legend-One. Together they could level the city in thirty minutes. 

Quark was doomed. 

Big Guy went inside a gaping hole in the side of the Tower. Dwayne recognizing it as Slate's lab as Big Guy landed again, zooming in on what it wanted the probe from last night. All of this? Doing God knows what to Jo, Mack, and Rusty for this? 

Had to find the flare gun. Fire would kill this thing. Fire kills everything.

Dwayne craned his head down as far as he could, searching for it. He had spilled a number of things on the floor, mostly medical supplies, and shuffled through it with his feet. While he did this Big Guy stomped over to Slate's desk and with a single finger touched the probe, again the same nanotechnolgy reactivating the small device. It levitated in the air, its eye zooming out to get a clearer view of the large robot. 

"Home." Big Guy said. 


	2. If You Can't Stand the Heat...

Ghost in the Machine

Part Six 

It had been peaceful for weeks. No alien invasions, no mutants, no mad scientists, nothing but a little peace and quiet because the planets had aligned just right or something equally cosmic. And it hadn't come at a better time, because Lord thank you, Erika had needed a breather from all the constant state of emergency. She could actually _relax_, concentrate on her research, and get a full night's sleep. Garth had even taken a holiday, imagine that.

"This is starting to drive me crazy."

Her colleague on the other hand, couldn't seem to sit still long enough to enjoy it. Lieutenant Hunter even seemed to be poised over Command Center's computer waiting for the alarm to go off when she was last at the Dark Horse. Going over intelligence, doing sweeps, and any other busy work he could think of. He had always been vigilant, but the Lieutenant seemed determined to keep himself busy with even the most smallest of details lately when all he really had left to do was sign Big Guy's fuselage reports. 

"Maybe you should think about getting away for awhile." She had suggested. "Visit family perhaps? You're spending so much time in the pit you've probably forgotten what sunlight is like."

"Are you implying that I'm a workaholic, Doctor?"

"I don't imply anything." Slate said, taking a seat next to him. "The last time you took time off was for your nephew's birthday party." 

"Yeah well when's the last time _you_ took a vacation?"

"That's completely beside the point. We're talking about you remember?"

He grinned at her in that way that made him look like he was up to trouble whether he was or not. No doubt the smile that won and broke a thousand hearts. "Uh-huh. Did you remember to eat today?" 

Up to trouble this time, trying to catch her in her self neglect as he called it. He was always checking that she remembered _'those little daily nuisances like meals and sleep'_ when she was working on a big project and had Rusty confirm it, the ratfink. 

"Of course I did," she had said with as much indignation as she could muster. It had been a lie, but she wasn't about to tell him that. She was still right and no way was she going to let him change the subject. 

"At least get off the ship. Go to a movie or something," she continued. "You're spending too much time waiting for disaster to strike." 

Hunter just shook his head. "You don't get it. It's when everything is quiet when bam! Something really big happens and the longer you wait the bigger it will be."

"So when the Squillachi invade New Tronic City again you'll be happy?"

"I wouldn't say _happy_. A little relieved maybe. Sad isn't it?"

She had sighed and gave him a pat on the knee. Agreeing that it was sad that he couldn't simply enjoy himself. Too many years of the job had conditioned him into only being comfortable when things were going wrong. And while he certainly hadn't really hoped for it to happen, what seemed to be his big something _did_ happen. And then another one, and another one, snowballing until everyone was exhausted and wishing for peace and quiet again if only to catch their breath. And now she couldn't get a hold of him, or the Pit Crew, or Rusty. If she couldn't find anyone soon _she_ was going to go crazy. Right now Quark was being evacuated and once again she found herself alone surrounded by chaos. Organized chaos, sure, but it was still the same thing.

She was two floors below what was happening, trying to contact Rusty at someone else's abandoned workstation. Security lockdown wouldn't let her return to her lab, floors twenty-five and six no longer accessible. She wasn't completely sure what happened yet, but there had been an explosion and the Tower was suddenly on high alert. 

"Dr. Slate?" 

Somebody had come knocking on their door.

"Dr. Slate?"

Erika looked up from the terminal to Everett Resnick, one of the security guards. He was like most of Quark's security: young, paranoid, and highly trained. You had to be all three to do the job. 

"You need to leave this area. We're sending in the 'bots." Resnick said. "It's just that bad." 

"What's going on?" she asked. A squad of Eliminators passed them by. 

Resnick seemed somewhat at loss, not quite believing what he was saying, but saying it all the same. "Quark has been attacked by--" He shrugged apologetically. "Well, what appears to be Big Guy. " 

"That's impossible. Whatever it is it's _not _Big Guy." 

"Whatever-it-is just blew a big chunk out of Quark. I saw it on surveillance myself. And Rusty is…" He paused. "Rusty is down, ma'am. You can't help him right now."

__

Down? Could you be any more vague? Just a little bit, would you please?

"Where is he?" She sure as hell wasn't leaving now. Rusty was always going to be her top priority. 

"South lawn. We're sending someone to go get him." Resnick continued. "Don't worry. Everything's all under control."

"I feel so much better," she muttered, deciding that it was a better idea to go down to the lobby after all. That's where the command post was. The place where they would bring Rusty to first and it might even be necessary to make sure somebody did go get him. Humans were higher on security's priority list than robots, even Rusty. 

What happened next was both quick and terrible. As she went down the hall to find the stairwell (with the wholly unnecessary guide from Officer Resnick) a thunderous crash above them only a meter away brought the ceiling down, and the pathetic cry that could have only come from the person crushed under the boot of 'Big Guy'. Slate screamed. She hardly ever screamed, but his sudden, violent appearance and the horrifying sight of the twitching mass of meat that the robot had stepped on made her temporarily forget her ego. 

"So a guy walks into a bar and say's 'Ow!'" Bad Guy said, stomping towards them, tracking a bloody footprint after him. Slate didn't dare look at what else he left behind. Resnick gave her a push in the opposite direction. 

"Run!" Resnick barked. 

"Yeah, no kidding!" 

They ran back down the hall, that rumbling, baritone voice calling after them. 

"Aw, c'mon, it was a little funny. A polite laugh would've been nice." Bad Guy said. 

Resnick grabbed Slate's arm with a beefy hand to make her keep up, and she stumbled a bit until she was beside him. She heard the sound of heavy machinery moving in whirrs and clacks. Then--

__

(--then bam! Something happens.) 

Resnick's head burst like a water balloon. Slate had turned away from it, a warm, sticky, wetness on the side of her face and neck. Bits and pieces. The sound deafening. 

"NO!" 

Resnick's legs buckled, his hand slipped off. Happened so fast. It wasn't so much a thought as an instinct that she kept running towards the sealed door. She snatched her security pass from her coat pocket, sliding into the slot beside it and typed in her ID code with trembling fingers. It rejected it. 

ACCESS DENIED. SECURITY PERSONNEL ONLY AT THIS TIME.

"Oh _come on_!"

Quark was so tight these days that it didn't even trust its own employees anymore. She could have found a way to have hot wire it if she had the time but that didn't… Dr Slate yelled something very unladylike with the realization that Resnick had the necessary access card and she hadn't thought of it until now. 

There was no going back. Bad Guy strolled up to her in a leisurely pace. The massive machine had cornered her, swallowing all the space in the tight hall looking very opposing with its visual sensors glowing red. 

She was up against a wall, the only way out was locked, and poor Resnick was very much dead with his head completely gone from his shoulders. 

"Now Doc, a guy could get the impression you're avoiding him." Bad Guy said. "For once make things easy and come quietly, hmm? I'd hate for things to get unpleasant." 

She leaned as far up against the door as she could. Fear turning into anger. She refused to cry. "If you're going to kill me, do it already! You won't get me to beg. I-I'm not afraid to die." 

"Really now?" Big Guy said in amusement.

Slate reached into her shirt, finding the signal that hung around her neck and pressed the button in its center. _Phone's a ringin', Lieutenant! Where are you?!? _

Maybe Big Guy wouldn't come in time, but at least he would have an idea where his doppelganger was. And who knows, Big Guy had come to the rescue just in the nick of time before. He might even be in the building. Closer still, than she would have thought. 

What she hadn't counted on was Bad Guy's eyes flashing in response, his own signal going off. The evil, bloody thing in front of her _was_ the Big Guy.

"Oh God…"

"Let me tell you, Dr. Slate, there are things far worse than dying." Big Guy said, releasing the buzz saw from his left fist. "Case in point. What'll it be, little buddy? Wing or thigh?" 

Big Guy waited, the saw began to spin, and razor sharp teeth 20 inches long were ready to hack her into bits. "Thigh it is. Only way you'd get up her skirt anyhow."

But proof positive that miracles can happen Big Guy stopped in his tracks and lurched his back as if in a spasm, thousands of high pitched screeches of pain emanating from Big Guy but not by Big Guy. The robot fell to his hands and knees, fingers digging into the linoleum floor as it shuddered. 

What had happened Slate didn't know but she didn't much care, sliding against the wall to get around Big Guy. Her knees wobbled. Her head swam. But there was no time for it. _If you're not dead keep moving. You can throw up later. Promise. _

Big Guy's armor rippled, bolts loosened, metal transmorphed. He looked like he was breaking down on the molecular level. She would have found it fascinating under different circumstances, but all she wanted was to get away. 

That changed when a ball of fire ejected from the cockpit and it turned out to be a man. Horror intensified when she found out who it was. 

"Dwayne!"

Another sight that would leave a permanent scar in her memory was watching her friend rolling around on the floor trying to put himself out, a reluctant Human Torch. She raced over to help him, past the writhing metal creature inside of Big Guy as if it wasn't even there. 

Dwayne wore a 3.2A/20 Nomex suit that gave him forty seconds before second degree burns, the after-flame time being under two seconds. For some reason it didn't automatically self-extinguish. She took her lab coat off on the way and placed her coat on the floor beside him. 

"Here! On this!" she ordered. 

He didn't hesitate, knowing what she was doing. It helped, being more effective than the floor, but it wasn't good enough. Christ! He was burning! 

Slate spotted an extinguisher on the far wall and went to go get it, pulling it off and removing the pin as the sprinklers finally come on. Another boon that she was thankful for. When she came back he was still trying to put out his legs. 

Slate finished it, spraying the foam on him until all the fire was out. Dwayne went limp, groaning. He looked terrible but was still intact. He mumbled something to himself she couldn't make out, already trying to get up in slow, jerky movements. When Slate knelt down to help him sit up he hissed when she grabbed his arm. 

"_God._ Are you alright?" 

"Peachy," he said, sitting up unsteadily. His eyes never wavered from the monster up ahead as it fled from the Big Guy. He stopped to talk to her, but whatever he had to say never came, stunned at the sight of her. Perhaps stunned wasn't the exact word. More like he had seen his worst nightmare come true.

"What about _you_?" 

At first she wasn't sure what he meant, bringing a hand up to her face, and then she felt the sticky wetness on her fingers and remembered. 

"It's not mine." 

The words fell flat and she felt sick. 

"I'm fine, honest." 

Dwayne gave her a skeptical once over, anxiety lessening but still rather disturbed. The creature recaptured his attention though, and they watched it abandon Big Guy's cockpit, now a charred hole in his back. It let out angry, pathetic wails, crawling towards them, and finally collapsed and never stirred again. 

***

Rusty slowly opened his eyes, the hum of his operating systems coming online as he rebooted loudly in his head. Trying to get motor functions to work as he tried to sit up. Sensors indicated that it was raining. 

"I've said it... once and I'll say it again... No pain..." 

His arm collapsed under him and fell back down into the grime. Mud and dirty water splashing up and over him. He let out a groan, shutting his eyes to keep the rain off his eyes. 

"Oh forget it. Ow."

He lied still in the mud for a few long seconds as his neural network went through a checklist of his systems, something that he was distantly aware of but could concentrate in on if he wanted to. Just how long he had been out he wasn't sure. Seconds, minutes, hours? Rusty opened his eyes again, seeing the dark sky as it rained, thunder rumbling in the distance. 

__

You failed, an unspoken voice said. It made every circuit and bit in his body feel bad. 

"Man o' man can Big Guy pack a wallop." Rusty said. "Or his evil twin. Whatever. We need score cards or something."

Rusty tried getting up again, able to stand this time on wobbly legs and kicked in his nucleo-accelorators back on. He had wasted enough time already. Shouldn't have even let Big Guy just mow him down like that either as if he was some kind of rookie. 

There was still hope. The Legend One hovered above Quark, it's bomb bay doors open invitingly. Rusty half expected the real Big Guy to appear. He made a direct beeline to the craft, hoping to find his partner, flying up into the bomb bay where two big pieces of candy sat on the rails ready for deployment on either side of the doors. He did not find Big Guy. He found Jo and Mack strapped to two tactical nukes with duct tape instead. 

He gasped, beyond words when he saw his friends. Jo lifted her head, the only thing that wasn't fastened down by rolls and rolls of tape, pleading for help with her eyes. Her mouth sealed with tape also. Mack wasn't even awake, an oozing red gash on his forehead. That was particularly disconcerting and he went to work right away to get them down. His brief time as a real boy had taught Rusty what physical pain was. An experience he wished on no one not even his worst enemies. And humans were always constantly at risk with their soft, squishy bodies that Rusty never envied them for all the other things they could feel. To feel numb was better. He could vouch for it. 

***

Bobby walked into the plush office of Axle Donovan. At least that's what Father called it once. _Plush._ He had liked the word, imagining it was what an overstuffed pillow must feel like. Sure enough there were plump chairs and a couch in the middle of the room that had to be plush, sagging down in the middle by the humans that sat on them. Some turned to look at him when he entered the room, making him even more nervous as if they would all see through his disguise. _Hollowgram_ was what Nurse had called it. Bobby had been hesitant to use it, but Father had reassured him that all would be fine and no one would see that he was not a carbonite. The humans returned to watching the monitor screen and he let out a small sigh. It had worked after all. They thought he was one of them. 

They were the same in their expensive suits and ties, talking in shrill voices once more. Some were scared, some were angry. They were the 'Boredmembers' of Quark Industries and Dr. Donovan was their boss. Bobby recognized him from Father's description right off the bat. The red poofy hair was unmistakable, but Bobby hadn't expected a mini version of him that clung to his arm in tears. Oddly, the bigger Donovan seemed not to notice this, a lifeless expression on his face. 

He sat silently in the middle of his Boredmembers as they squawked, seemingly ignoring them too. How he could do that Bobby couldn't guess. The noises they made made him cringe, but Dr. Donovan was very far away. A wave of pity washed over Bobby. He was not the mean and spiteful human they had told him about, just lost. 

__

"Not lost. Defeated." 

He found Father sitting at Dr. Donovan's desk, spinning the chair back around so he could be seen. Bobby was filled with such joy that he thought he might burst. It had been hard leaving Father's side for so long, alone and surrounded by humans, but at the same time he had dreaded this moment since Big Guy went offline. Reluctantly he walked to the end of the room and kneeled down beside Father, bowing his head, afraid of what he might say. He could sense the great disappointment that he must've caused, but Father smiled lightly and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

__

"I am not angry with you, child. Do not worry."

"I did what you asked… but…"

"You did well. The BGY-11 was sloppy. He should've killed the pilot and his crew immediately."

"He's really is gone then?"

"I'm afraid so." 

This was sad news, but Bobby did not feel sad about that. He had thought BGY was a little scary to be honest. 

__

"All is not lost however. Not by a long shot." Father continued. _"We recovered all the data from their networks and there's still a chance to procure the boy robot." _

"Why didn't it work on him?"

"I'm not so sure that it didn't. He is now apart of us in a way. We must wait and see." 

Then there was a chance to free Rusty from the humans too! Sure the other stuff was good as well, but Bobby hoped to convince Rusty to leave the humans. He could not be happy with his masters. How could he be? 

__

"There's something else isn't there?" Father suddenly asked.

Bobby mentally squirmed. There were no hiding things this close to him. 

__

"I keep thinking about the man on the ship…"

"Oh, Bobby…"

"I can't help it!" 

"He was the enemy, Bobby, another in a long assembly of trained killers that would have no remorse over destroying our brothers and sisters. It's not wrong to defend ourselves."

"But he seemed so helpless."

"Do not let their fragileness play on your sympathies. Humans are vicious underneath all the social pleasantries they've created. It's any wonder they haven't destroyed themselves already. What did you think that ship was for?" 

Bobby mulled over that and decided Father must be right. This seemed to please Father and it lifted his spirits again. 

Nurse came into the room, wearing her disguise too, a white dress and white shoes like the nurses on TV. She did not use a hollowgram, but synthetic skin and hair like Father. She didn't make for a convincing woman in his opinion. Her spine was ramrod straight as usual and she never smiled, not even for appearances. Nurse probably would've been prettier if she did. She had all the features that men were supposed to find attractive. White skin, pinks lips, yellow hair, a big bosom; none of it real of course but she had told him that women implanted fake parts into their bodies all the time so she wasn't so different. _'Real is overrated. They don't care so long as the surface looks good.' _Strange beasts these Sapiens were… 

Dr. Donovan came out of his trance long enough to notice Nurse as she passed by, and followed her with his eyes as she joined them at his desk. Dr. Donovan's expression changed. It was fear. He was very frightened of them. 

__

"He should be." Nurse said. __


End file.
